Konoha's Old West Ballads
by prisonblues
Summary: After an unsuccessful train robbery Naruto Uzumaki is left with a partner he would rather not have. Sakura Haruno on the other hand gets the wish she was longing for, just not the way she imagined.
1. Chapter 1 - Jobs and Dreams

''Just give me one fucking minute!'' Naruto stress-fully yelled.

Naruto Uzumaki was never supposed to find himself in this predicament, he cursed his bad luck and poor judgment for all of this. This was supposed to be an easy operation, just go in take the money and get out, but like always karma stroked hard against him. They were lucky to have found a small abandoned house to get cover, but those bandits were going to come and burst inside any minute now. His little companion was not helping improve the situation very much either.

''Give you one minute!? Are you out of your mind, you brought me into this mess and I demand you take me out of it!'' Sakura yelled back.

Sakura Haruno never expected her day to become so chaotic, one second sleeping peacefully in a train on her way to Konoha and the next one running away from pissed off outlaws. For the first time ever in her life something just went horribly wrong. And this stupid blond dumbass was really pissing her off more and more as time passed by. Just as she was going to complain again Naruto tackled her and she found herself on the ground.

Sakura huffed upon impact, ''ouch, why the hell did you-'' she started to complain until she heard the gunshots and saw the bullets going through the windows. She was now screaming in terror as shattered glass started to fall on them and the ground.

''They found us, we gotta move and fast'' Naruto said when the shooting stopped.

He lifted Sakura from the ground and placed her on his shoulder.

''What the hell do you think you're doing, put me down now!'' she complained.

''Shut up, that stupid dress of yours is going to slow us down like before. I'm doing us both a favor!''

The front door violently opened and a bandit shot a bullet against them. It missed by quite a good margin, Naruto didn't think twice and took out his pistol immediately. He gave it three spins and shot the man right in the chest, giving the intruder no time to take a second shot.

Sakura was confused for a few seconds before realizing what exactly just happened and screamed when she saw the man on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

''You killed him, how could you do that!?'' Sakura angrily yelled as she started to punch Naruto.

''What are you talking about!? Ouch, stop hitting me, you punch hard for a girl you know!'' Naruto cried. ''He was going to kill us if I didn't do anything!''

''We're going to kill you stupid brats!'' a bandit yelled from outside.

Naruto took that as a signal to leave and started running towards the back door with Sakura still on his shoulder. Boots broke the shattered glass even more on the floor as Naruto ran away from the house, he checked the cylinder of his revolver as he ran. It seemed he only had two more bullets, he gave it a quick spin and placed it back into place. When he saw that they were at a safe enough distance he placed Sakura on the ground.

They stopped and Naruto took a breather, he was truly exhausted. It had been almost 3 days since they had a proper meal, it surprised him how long they had lasted this way. Naruto took the bandanna off his neck and wiped the sweat off his forehead he then turned to see how Sakura was doing. She was definitely looking worse than him, he had to think of something quick or they would both pass out from exhaustion.

''We are going to catch you damn brats!'' A bandit yelled to them.

''They're gonna kill us right? We killed their friend and they're thirsty for revenge'' Sakura started to shake and cry.

_Fucking hell_ Naruto really was not used to women at all. He was clueless as to what to do when they cried, even so he felt a knot in the stomach every time he saw someone cry. So he said what he thought was the most reassuring thing.

''Hey don't worry, if they kill us I won't have to go to jail anymore and you won't have to worry about finding a husband back home'' Naruto laughed after saying that.

Sakura started crying even harder after hearing those words, ''you're a dumbass, I hate you, take me home!''

Naruto sighed and tighten the bandanna around his neck, he was horrible at this.

Both of them jumped when a bullet landed right besides their feet, _I need to lose those guys now,_ Naruto thought. Looking at his surroundings he spotted a cliff at the distance, if he was good at something it was remembering the geography of his surroundings, and if he remembered correctly there was a pretty big lake below that cliff. He had done it before, dive into a lake from a high place and make them think you didn't survive the fall, piece of cake.

But would he be able to do it with Sakura besides him that was the question. Well it was that or a bullet in their skulls so he changed directions and ran towards the cliff, he always survived thanks to his impulses.

Sakura opened her eyes to see that the road had finished and there was nowhere to escape, ''this is the end of the road, they're going to kill us'' she lamented.

Sakura could not believe this was her end, even if she didn't exactly loved her life back home she would take it any day over this pitiful end. Maybe her dad was right after all and she was being obnoxious and ungrateful about her supposedly perfect life. Those thoughts went away when Naruto suddenly hugged her.

''Not today my lady, not today'' he told her in his sexiest voice.

Sakura looked at him confused before realizing what he was planning to do, ''oh no, no, no, no, no. You must be crazy if you think I'm going to throw myself into that lake!''

''That's not your decision, sorry about this'' Naruto grabbed her from the waist and jumped into the water.

The last sight the outlaws saw was a flash of pink and yellow hair falling off a cliff. They cursed and left the scene shortly after that.

* * *

_7 days earlier_

Sakura Haruno sighed in relief when her corset was untied by her maids, truth to be told that was not the only thing she was relieved about. The party was a complete bore fest and the boys her age were even more boring if that was possible. She really couldn't wait to start her trip to Konoha.

''How did you find the party Sakura?'' one of the maids asked.

''I think you already know the answer'' Sakura sighed.

The other maid shook her head, ''you will never find a man to spend the rest of your life with at this rate dear.''

''It's just that every single one is so self centered'' Sakura said disappointingly, ''guess I'll have to take the least annoying one thanks to my dad.''

And that was the big problem for her, the exact day she turned 16 her father, Kizashi Haruno, was adamant about finding his little daughter a husband despite whatever objections Sakura placed on the table.

She wouldn't go down that easily though, she sabotaged every single candidate her father had brought one way or another. She would act like an unladylike bitch or a downright maniac in order to get them to leave and it worked for at least two years, until her father finally decided to give her an ultimatum.

''I had enough Sakura, choose one or you get out of my house'' Kizashi said.

''You must be joking, would you really leave me your only daughter all alone in the streets?'' Sakura said.

Kizashi shook his head in disappointment ''I believe I've been pretty lenient with you so far, but you're 18 now and I can't allow you to throw away your future anymore.''

Sakura looked at her father with disbelief ''but you're not even taking into consideration how I feel about the whole situation and-''

Kizashi raised his hand to stop her from talking ''this is my final decision Sakura you're free to do whatever you want, but as long as you're under my roof you'll have to abide to my rules.''

At the end of the discussion Sakura had to reluctantly agree, it was that or become homeless and she would take the first option over the second one every single time. She was not really angry at her father either he had been nothing but supportive of everything she did as she grew up, but had the bad luck of finding himself with a daughter who simply was not interested in marriage.

Truth to be told she never actually liked the way her life had shaped so far. It was uninteresting and simplistic Sakura always wanted something more adventurous, explore new places, and maybe even ride horses. Ironically enough she was never allowed to be near one even with the wealth of her family, it was always carriages.

Sakura at least convinced her father to let her have a small trip to the west side of the country, Konoha most specifically, to visit her friend Ino Yamanaka before she started looking for a potential husband. And who knows, maybe a talk with her best friend would make her change perspective about marriage she has been married for 2 years now.

''Sakura, dear are you finished packing your belongings already?'' Mebuki Haruno asked behind the door of Sakura's room.

''Yes mother, I have everything ready for tomorrow'' Sakura answered.

''Alright just remember that we're leaving early in the morning. I'm telling you this because you have a tendency to oversleep and I don't want to have to drag you out of bed in the morning'' Mabuki reprimanded.

The maids giggled remembering all the mornings they had to splash Sakura with cold water in order to wake her up.

Sakura blushed and closed her eyes in frustration, ''I'll wake up on time tomorrow mother.''

''I thought so'' Mebuki said as she left.

Sakura changed into a robe and laid on her bed, her maids left shortly afterwards and blew out the candles in her room. Looking at the ceiling Sakura smiled and closed her eyes, she hoped this night would bring her good dreams about Konoha.

xxxxx

Sakura woke up the next morning to a flash of light coming from her window and the smell of breakfast in the table besides her bed. Today was finally the day of her big trip and she felt great, so she finished her breakfast as fast as she could and got out of her bed.

Sakura felt a chill pass throughout her back when her bare feet touched the cold floor, she headed towards her wardrobe and started looking for the dress she would use today. She took a simple, but elegant blue dress and a cute matching hat her maids entered the room shortly after to help her get into her attire.

Sakura was smiling as her maids finished to dress her, she was genuinely excited for her trip as she had never seen the west side of the fire country, most of her friends warned her this was not exactly a good time for such a trip with the civil war just ending about a year ago and tensions still around, but she reassured them that Konoha was a safe place to travel to. It was a slower more peaceful place according to Ino, but it was a beautiful one as well and Sakura always wanted to get away from the chaotic city life for a while. Ino sometimes sent her beautiful gifts from there as well, so Sakura was eager to at least visit there once in her life.

Once she checked and packed all her clothes and important items Sakura grabbed her umbrella, left her room and found her parents already waiting for her outside the house. It seemed they were not alone either.

''Good morning Sakura'' Kizashi greeted her. ''Ready to leave for the station?''

''Yes I'm ready dad'' Sakura answered. ''But who is this man right here?'' she hoped her father was not playing match-ups again.

''Ah yes very rude of me not to introduce him'' Kizashi cleared his throat. ''Sakura this is Sai and he will be accompanying you in the duration of your trip.''

Sakura was baffled, she knew this whole trip was too good to be true and something was bound to ruin it at the end. She took a look at Sai, at least he was good looking albeit a little too pale for her taste. Maybe the situation wasn't that bad after all and her dad finally chose a good man for her, at least she thought so until he opened his mouth.

''So this is your daughter Kizashi'' Sai said not amused. ''I was expecting a prettier lady, it's going to be tough spending a week in Konoha with her.''

Kizashi sensed his daughter already going at full speed for the punch and stopped her before she connected her fist in Sai's face. Sai was still standing in the same place with a confused look.

''Oh dear, why don't we wait in the carriage for now Sai'' Mabuki laughed nervously and took Sai with her.

Kizashi sighed in relief once they left, ''listen he is just the son of a friend of mine and quite frankly I hate him too. But he is just going with you because he's a damn good bodyguard, so no you don't have to like him or even speak to him if you don't want to.''

Sakura stomped the floor with her foot and gritted her teeth, ''fine, but if he comes back with a black eye or broken ribs it's on you.''

Kizashi looked as Sakura stomped her way to the carriage and sat down as far away from Sai as she could. His daughter was in for a long ride to Konoha at this rate.

xxxxx

If there was something Sakura hated more than packed cities it was definitely packed railroad stations. So many businessmen pushing you out of the way, nowhere to sit down while you wait for your train and to top it all the annoying smile of Sai right besides her. That asshole wouldn't waste any chance to take a jab at her, since he was supposedly 'dragged' to this trip because of a favor his family owed to hers.

So instead of getting angrier Sakura decided to close her eyes and just relax. This was still her happy trip and nothing would change that, not even a smug pretty face moron. Sakura opened her eyes once she heard the loud noise of the train and shortly after the vibrations from the rails in the ground. Her ride was finally here and she would start her new adventure already, she was exited to finally get out of this city and see something new.

''Alright Sakura here is your ticket'' Kizashi woke her up from her daydream and handed her the ticket. ''I will take your baggage to the back. It's going to be six days until you get to Konoha so could you please try not to kill your partner inside that train?''

Sakura rolled her eyes and placed the ticket in her handbag, ''fine, but I won't promise that he'll come back in one piece.''

She hugged both of her parents and smiled at them. The train conductor started asking for passengers to board the train and show their tickets, Sakura looked at the growing multitude trying to get inside the vehicle and cursed herself. She needed to get inside before it got worse.

''I'll take my leave now, see you in a month then'' Sakura kissed them both on the cheek and left.

Running towards the train Sakura squeezed past the big multitude and gave her ticket to the conductor. Once inside she fixed her hat and immediately went to the front wagon where her seat and the high class people were. She passed through what she thought were hundreds of different wagons, it seemed the train was endless. The fact that people here smelled bad and looked worse made her even more stressed, she hated having to interact with such lesser people.

Sakura opened another door and found herself inside a completely different world, it was a huge and beautifully decorated wagon, and it almost seemed like a huge living room. Walking across the hallway she found her seat number and sat down, the seats were really comfortable as well so it seemed she would have no trouble sleeping at all.

''Ah you're fast to get in here before me pinky'' Sai said.

There was the mood killer it actually surprised her that it took him so long to get here. Sai sat beside her and took out a sketch book and a pen. Sakura looked at it mildly surprised, it seemed he was an artist, but he was still a rude asshole in her eyes.

''Sooo what kind of drawings do you make?'' Sakura reluctantly asked, she at least wanted to break the tension already building between them.

''I know you hate me, you don't have to be so polite and pretend you care'' Sai started drawing in his book.

Sakura inwardly cursed and gritted her teeth, but resisted the urge to hit him in the face.

''I just really want to at least try and get along with you, since we both are stuck with each other for 3 weeks'' Sakura said.

Sai looked at the ceiling and decided that she was right, ''I really like old eastern art, dragons, demons, that kind of stuff, but I can draw almost anything.''

''I'm sorry, what?'' Sakura asked confused.

''You asked what kind of drawings I made'' Sai clarified.

''Oh I see, but that's a pretty weird art style. Can't you make something more sophisticated? This one seems rushed and uninteresting'' Sakura said.

''Yeah just like your face'' Sai blurted out and made a fake smile.

_Sorry dad I'm not going to be able to let him live 5 days_, Sakura thought before punching Sai right in the face.

* * *

Naruto felt a blanket of cold water cover him and instantly jumped out of his bed cursing like a mad man. He grabbed his revolver that was resting besides his pillow and started shooting at the ceiling.

''What the fuck is going on!?'' Naruto yelled after his revolver ran out of bullets.

Kiba Inuzuka was standing just in front of his bed with an empty bucket and a smug smile in his face. He laughed out loud and threw the bucket at Naruto.

''Wakie, Wakie motherfucker'' Kiba smiled.

Naruto lowered his weapon and sighed, ''you fucking asshole,'' he got up and sat on his bed. ''Next time wake me up in a more civilized way would you?''

''Damn I never thought of that,'' Kiba said sarcastically. '' Oh wait I did, it's just that you're a fucking brick when you sleep and wouldn't wake up any other way!''

They both turned their attention towards the door when it opened and a man wearing small sunglasses appeared. The man walked slowly towards them and threw a letter to Naruto.

''And what am I supposed to do with this Shino?'' Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Shino cleared his throat, ''it's the schedule you asked for, and if you read it you will find out we have three days to prepare for the operation.''

''You guys don't waste any time do you'' Naruto smirked. ''Fine, but what about those extra men I asked for? You know very well that only three people are not enough.''

Kiba laughed and motioned Naruto to follow him, Shino followed closely behind them. Naruto felt the early morning breeze when he stepped outside, he loved that feeling more than anything in the world. He took a deep breath and stretched enjoying the sunlight and the freshness of the outside world. He often thought why people enjoyed the big cities, why go there when the big west was so entertaining and full of life. Then again that may just be an excuse his mind made up for him considering the kind of lifestyle he had here.

Kiba stopped walking when they reached the end of a cliff and placed two fingers in his mouth to whistle. A huge white dog appeared and sat beside him shortly after.

''Akamaru doesn't count as extra men Kiba, I already told you about this'' Narut frowned.

''Don't be stupid and look over there'' Kiba pointed towards the forest just below the cliff.

Naruto focused his eyes towards the forest and saw four different smoke clouds coming from the trees, he was impressed they actually took this thing seriously. There were probably twenty men waiting for them below, more than enough to make the operation run flawlessly.

''Well color me impressed, you guys actually take this seriously'' Naruto's face turned serious after seeing that many people.

''We actually want to get out of this safely and rich, what were you expecting?'' Kiba said.

''That's why we hired you as well, you have quite a reputation even though you're the same age we are'' Shino said while fixing his glasses.

It was the truth, Naruto was very well known in the underground world here in the west for being the very best in his business; robbing trains. When he started the crazy idea of inventing this business people often asked him a simple question, why not rob a bank instead?

Most of his employers were simply not familiar with that style of life and thought mercenary cowboys just robed banks. It made sense in theory, you didn't have to go through the trouble of stopping a train if you simply robbed a bank.

Here was the problem though, banks where near impossible to rob. The vast majority of them were placed besides the sheriff's office in towns and the ones that didn't were simply too small. The reward for stealing money off those small ones simply didn't outweigh the danger of being caught. That is when the idea crossed Naruto's mind.

_''Why not rob trains instead?''_

The first time he said that Jiraiya just laughed until he puked out all the whiskey he drank. That was until he actually heard the way Naruto wanted to do it, a simple but effective way. First step was to gather enough people to raid the train, second was to derail and stop the train, and lastly make the express-man open the safe at the back of the train to take the goods and leave. It was flawless (at least in theory), make your best effort to not be recognized, no officer of the law nearby, and if you caught a train containing payrolls you left out of there rich.

Even if you didn't find anything of value in the safe's you could still rob rich people inside and go out of there with a good enough reward. Shortly after he and Jiraiya succeeded in the robberies they made a name for themselves as the Toad Cowboys. Now richer than ever they both started to get client, cowboys, mercenaries, even some rich men who wanted to do it for fun. Jiraiya decided to be the one to handle the customers through his big underground network and Naruto was the one to do the dirty job, they split the rewards with their clients 50/50.

These two new customers just got approved by Jiraiya a week ago. They had a very strict choosing process for their customers, meaning they had to earn the trust of either Jiraiya or Naruto for them to even think about doing the job. It seemed these two were referred to Jiraiya by Tsunade and if you ever wanted to earn her trust you had to be crazy enough to die before confessing your crimes. So of course with the blessing of Tsunade they decided to take them both.

Kiba Inuzuka was not someone to really write about. He was the owner of a small farm on the outskirts of Konoha, not the best job if you want to earn a living considering the abundance of them. There was also the tough weather here you had to deal with, you would have to be mad to even think about owning one, so maybe he inherited it. It seems he had sisters to take care of as well and could think of nothing else but to ask the Toad Cowboys for help.

Shino Aburame on the other hand was just an enigma for Naruto, he didn't seem the type who badly needed money. Maybe he just wanted a good rush of adrenaline or fame, whatever it was he was looking for he never told anyone. It seemed he and Kiba knew each other for a long time though so maybe he was just trying to help a friend.

The plan this time was to rob a passenger train with big payroll checks going along with them. Naruto could not believe the opportunity they had in their hands, very rarely they got word of such a train traveling. It seemed the train also had some rich people inside, so the reward would be even better. Jiraiya's network really outdid itself on this one.

''So what's the next step Uzumaki?'' Shino asked.

Naruto brushed his thoughts aside and smiled, ''I get to talk to everyone and make them work as a team that's the most important part. After settling introductions and gathering my materials we move towards point A''

He grabbed the map on his back pocket and opened it, the map was filled with the railroads that passed through all of Konoha.

''How the hell did you get that thing?'' Kiba asked surprised.

''When we do things we want to do them correctly, there's a reason we have never been caught all this time. Anyways this right here is the first point'' Naruto pointed at two railroads which crossed paths. ''First we go there to change the direction of the train, then we go to point B where we put up a barricade.''

Shino frowned, ''wait wouldn't the driver suspect things where wrong once he gets derailed? Even more so due to the fact that the train suddenly has to stop at the middle of nowhere. Should he notice something is wrong he would have the time to put up a countermeasure.''

''We don't have to worry about any of that, here take a look'' Naruto showed Shino the terrain on the map.

''Ah I see what you're planning, pretty simple I can't believe I didn't see it'' Shino said impressed.

Kiba looked at them unblinking, he had no idea what Shino had seen that he didn't.

''What are you talking about Shino? You sure this is foolproof?'' Kiba said in frustration.

''It's actually really simple Kiba,'' Shino showed him the railroads on the map.

It was a pretty straightforward move Kiba noticed immediately, '' ah I see, the driver has nothing to worry about when he gets derailed because he will get reconnected to his original path in just ten minutes.''

''Exactly,'' Naruto affirmed. ''He gets a fake sense of assurance that it's only a small detour, that's when we strike. The route is full of trees we can hide in and once he sees the barricade it will be too late.''

Kiba and Shino smiled clearly satisfied by the plan, it seemed they chose the right man for the job. They got up and went towards the camps, Kiba hugged Shino and started to yell about how rich he would become after this. Shino seemed to just give him the cold shoulder and walked away, Akamaru was just behind them jumping of joy even though he probably didn't knew anything that was happening.

Naruto folded the map and placed it in his back pocket, the next part was the one he liked the most. Mercenaries seemed to have a bad reputation all around, but that was mainly because of how misunderstood they were. Most of them did it to feed their families or to help their little town, there was the occasional bad boy that just wanted to do it for glory, but they were the exception. After the civil war everyone seemed to do it for good deeds.

Naruto sighed and started to descend towards the forest, he had three days to make this bunch to work as a team and then other two days to set up the ambush. He really wanted to get this over with already.

* * *

It took me long enough to submit this in here (like five months after I thought I would), but here it is! I just want to clear some things first:

-You can see this is extremely AU and no it's not set in the US, but it is heavily based on it. It's still the Land of Fire and Konoha is located in the West section of it in this AU.

-All of the canon characters here will be OoC, BUT they will not be unrecognizable. It's a case of they're the same character, they just grew up in a way different environment therefore they have different attitudes at times. In the case of Naruto for example, here he will act more mature and intelligent at times, kind of like Hashirama (after all Hashirama is basically a Naruto who grew up in tougher times).

-I do not have a beta reader so if you see spelling or grammar mistakes I apologize. I'll try my best to clean it, but I'm not perfect. At least it's perfectly readable (or at least I think so lol)

I would also appreciate if someone sent me an image I could use for this story as I suck at drawing. Anyways please share your thoughts and leave a review! If you have anymore doubts just ask away and I'll answer. I'll also take criticism as long as it's not bashing.

Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2 - Plans and Backstabbers

Sasuke Uchiha was a man of very few words, so it was no surprise how he didn't seem to get along with anyone at the camp. If he was being honest, he completely loathed being in here, he couldn't believe Kakashi had put him out in this job.

_''I told you Sasuke, everyone knows who I am so it wouldn't be efficient if I went there. You have to take care of this'' _Kakashi told him.

_Sure easy for you to say that_, Sasuke thought. He wasn't the one who had to deal with crazy mercenaries after all, so it had fallen to him to do the dirty job. What pissed him off the most was that the majority of the credit would go to Kakashi instead of him if this was a successful run.

Sasuke sighed and sheathed his knife once he finished sharpening it. He opened up his revolver and started to clean the cannon first. He took a small handkerchief from his vest and started to clean the rest, he looked up to the group who was right in front of him, seemed they were having more fun than him.

''Hey brat who the hell chose you to come here, don't tell me you're going to ride a pony once we get there?'' a man with grey hair and purple lips teased a kid in front of a group of people.

''Shut the fuck up, why would I listen to a tranny anyways,'' the kid yelled back at him as he kept trying to light his bonfire.

The man with grey hair immediately got up and sprinted towards the kid. When he reached the kid he grabbed him from the neck and pinned him to a tree.

''Yo kid you better say sorry before I kill you'' the grey haired man said.

All around them the rest of the camp gathered with the exception of Sasuke who just snorted and kept cleaning his revolver. _We were told to work as a team and this is the first thing that happens when everyone meets, pathetic really_.

''Stop right now or you'll regret it!'' a blond man yelled from afar.

The grey haired man dropped the kid immediately and turned his attention towards the voice behind him. It was just a blond boy no older than himself, he was wearing blue jeans, a white long sleeved shirt, and above it was a vest half black and half orange. The grey haired man also saw a revolver at his right side, typical cowboy look.

He frowned and spat at the kid in the floor, ''and who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?''

''That's your first strike. I am not very patient, so you better calm down'' the blond said. ''Oh and I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the Orange Flash.''

Everyone lost their breath once Naruto announced his name. Sasuke who was watching from the sidelines had his eyes wide open, that man right there was the main reason he was here to begin with. He had heard tales about an orange flash that robbed trains without any trace left behind. It was fairly obvious he had found him, Naruto Uzumaki the train robber everyone spoke about yet nobody knew was right in front of him.

_Gotta thing this through to the last detail_, Sasuke could not risk to ruin this opportunity. If he did that would be two years of his life wasted. He decided just to watch the situation unfold for the moment.

''Strike one? Don't make me laugh. You think you're all cool walking around like a cowboy right. I don't care who the fuck you are I'm still going to kill you'' the grey haired man said again.

''Stop it Ukon!'' another grey haired man appeared from within the crowd. ''Don't you realize who this person is!?''

The two of them were identical Naruto noted they had to be twins then.

''Go mind your own fucking business Sakon'' he told his twin brother. ''I don't give a shit who he is.''

''You,'' Naruto pointed at Sakon. ''Tell your brother here he has no place between us and send him packing, you can stay here as long as you don't act like a baby like he does.''

Ukon quickly sprinted towards Naruto and placed his revolver on his forehead. Everyone was paralyzed in shock and the tension started to build. Sakon was visibly angry and tried to calm down Ukon with no effect.

''Get your gun off my forehead before I kill you… and that's strike two by the way'' Naruto threaten.

Ukon laughed, ''what can you do about it blondie? I got you pinned and you can't do any movements without me blowing your damn brains off'' he pulled the hammer in his gun.

''Strike three,'' Naruto smiled.

Ukon could not react to the faster movements of Naruto and could only scream in pain when the blond broke his arm and shot a bullet in his stomach. Sakon quickly ran towards his fallen brother and desperately yelled for help, but no one went to his aid.

Naruto walked away from them and headed towards the kid in the floor. He helped him stand up and then turned towards the middle of the multitude so everyone could hear him.

''Listen everyone, that's what you're gonna get if you decide to be an asshole and try to kill people here,'' Naruto pointed towards the half dead man on the floor. ''Your brother crossed the line and threatened the security of everyone in here, he gave me no other choice.''

Sasuke was speechless he had never seen anyone move so fast, not even Kakashi was that smooth with his gunplay. It seemed this trip was worth it after all.

''You expect me to just forget what you just fucking did you asshole!?'' Sakon yelled at Naruto.

''No, I'm giving you a choice. You can keep your head together and help us or try and get your revenge, but if you do that you'll give me no other choice but to kill you. That goes for everyone in here, let it be known you can get rich if you stay loyal to me or you can betray me and die,'' Naruto threatened everyone and turned his attention to the kid afterwards. ''What's your name?''

The kid brushed off the tears in his eyes and looked at Naruto in the eyes, ''Inari…''

''You have one strike right now, if you still want to be part of this you better not get pushed around that easily by anyone in here,'' Naruto looked at the sky before speaking again. ''We are going to have a meeting in one hour people, so finish whatever you are doing before that time.''

Sasuke remained motionless throughout the whole ordeal and watched closely as Naruto gathered wood and started making a bonfire not too far off from the camps. He was surprised at the way Naruto had handled things. He figured you had to do things you didn't want to in order to stay alive in this business.

This whole thing suddenly reminded Sasuke of Itachi and that made him sick, the last thing he wanted to remember was his brother. Itachi was always like that, making sacrifices for the greater good, at least until he wiped down the Uchiha family. It didn't matter anyways, he got the pitiful end he deserved for that atrocity.

Sasuke brushed those thoughts away from his head and fixed his gun to his holster. He decided it was in his best interest to get along with some of the men in here, even though he hated to be associated with people. He needed men motivated for the task he was up to, not an easy one, but it was not impossible.

His first choice was Sakon, the poor bastard was devastated and he could use that to his benefit in the coming days. He slowly walked to where Sakon was mourning and stopped to take a second look

''Yo, I got you an offer you'll find hard to turn down '' Sasuke asked after giving the man a minute.

Sakon didn't even turn his head to see who he was speaking with, ''what the fuck do you want? Can't you see I'm mourning.''

''Aye, that's why I want you to help me'' Sasuke smiled. ''You're gonna help me take down Naruto Uzumaki.''

Sakon lifted his head and quickly brushed away his tears. He got up and took a look at Sasuke, he was not expecting this kind of person to make that kind of statement. After a short while he opened his arm and offered Sasuke a handshake.

Sasuke shook his hand in a signal of good will _that was easier than I expected_.

xxxxxx

Inari gritted his teeth and went back to try making his fire grow again. He was ashamed that he was so easily overpowered by people in here, even though he was just thirteen. It was essential that he succeeded in getting a good cut of the earnings after the robbery, his family became so poor after the civil war where his father died that he had to find work in order to help. His mother Tsunami and grandfather Tazuna were not aware of the fact that he was involved in these affairs, they thought he just found work on the Inuzuka's farm outside of Konoha. It was partly true he was working with Kiba after all, just nothing related to farming.

He turned his head around to see that Naruto had already built his fire. Inari debated in his head whether to go and ask him for help or not. Maybe the blond was not as bad as he showed himself to be on the outside, you had to be tough to make it in this environment after all. If he was lucky Naruto would take him under his wing as well, that would be the best case scenario, but he knew that was just a fantasy.

Inari turned his head once again to see what Naruto was doing, but didn't find him where he was sitting just a second ago, _that's weird I swore he was there a second ago_.

''Hey kid,'' Naruto said from behind.

Inari jumped startled by the sudden voice from behind him. He never even heard him sneak up to him, orange flash indeed.

''Um what's up?'' Inari asked as uninterested as he could.

''Would you stop looking at me every ten seconds like I'm a goddamed lady with huge tits,'' Naruto asked him irritated.

Inari choked with his own saliva and started coughing, ''sorry about that.''

Naruto narrowed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, ''I know you want to ask me something so you better do it now before I change my mind.''

The young teen looked at the ground embarrassed before making his petition _here goes nothing_, ''I want you to take me under your wing!''

To Inari's distaste Naruto burst out laughing immediately after he made his request. Inari felt a nudge in his stomach after seeing Naruto's reaction, this day was going from bad to worse. Didn't he tell him not to be pushed around by anyone in here? Nobody seemed to take him seriously, not even his family took him seriously. _Wait that's right_, Inari thought.

Naruto felt a strong punch connecting in his jaw that pushed him to the ground. He saw an angry Inari looking at him with no fear in his eyes. Rubbing his jaw Naruto smiled and got himself to his feet.

''That's what I wanted to see,'' Naruto said impressed.

_Not a bad punch either_, he thought. That kid kind of reminded him of himself at that age, full of spirit and with the need to prove your strength to the world. _What the hell, he might come useful in the future_, Naruto started to walk away.

Inari looked at the orange flash confused, he didn't know what the hell just happened. He was surprised the blond didn't retaliate neither, but he never expected what Naruto was going to say next.

''Are you following me or not kid?''

* * *

''I'm sensing a rather hateful aura emanating around your whole body,'' Sai said after taking the almost completely melt bag of ice away from his right eye.

''Ah so now you're the expert on reading people's feelings?'' Sakura asked annoyed.

''Excuse me sir, would you like a new bag of ice for your eye?'' an attendant offered.

''Yes that would be very much appreciated,'' Sai smiled.

Sai turned to see Sakura after the attendant went to get his new bag of ice. He noticed how angry she still was, pretty impressive considering she punched him two days ago. Being trapped in a train alone for six days was a pain, but being here with Sakura was just torture. He had to share part of the blame though, being a sensible person was difficult enough for him, being forced to be here was not helping him become more social.

''Listen I apologize for my behavior so far,'' Sai suddenly said.

Sakura could not believe what she was hearing, he was actually apologizing for something. She looked at Sai confused and made her question.

''Why the sudden change of heart?'' Sakura asked.

''I'm not as bad as I make myself to be,'' Sai announced. ''I think it would be in the best of our interests to be on good terms as well. I do have a job to protect you after all and another black eye would kind of hinder my ability to do so.''

Sakura frowned still wary of the man besides her. She was unsure whether to believe him or not, why change your attitude all of a sudden. Why would you act like an asshole in the first place, she knew he was forced to be here, but that wasn't her fault so why take it out on her.

What he was saying was true though. Being on each other's throats all the time would just make this entire trip unpleasant. Maybe getting to know each other would ease the tension.

''It's not my fault you are here you know,'' Sakura said. ''My father insisted this, he insists on a lot of things in my life actually.''

Sai looked surprised that she actually opened up for a change, ''I know that, our families know each other pretty well. I am actually surprised we hadn't met before.''

Sakura looked confused as well, ''yeah it is kind of weird now that I think about it, got any ideas why?''

''Not really, my father said once that he didn't deemed it necessary. Then again he was the one that insisted I came here as your bodyguard, something about a debt,'' Sai explained.

''I wonder what my family did for yours, seems like a pretty big deal,'' Sakura scratched her head.

''Don't flatter yourself that much,'' Sai blurted out.

Sakura frowned and looked at Sai with a death glare. Sai immediately retracted his statement.

''I know, I know. I shouldn't blame you for it, but this really ruined an event I was eager to be part of.''

''Sorry about that,'' Sakura looked genuinely sorry. ''So what was it?''

''Excuse me?'' Sai looked confused.

Sakura rolled her eyes, ''that event you were talking about?''

''I'd rather not talk about it,'' Sai looked embarrassed.

''Come on don't be like that, I'll tell you something about me in exchange,'' Sakura winked.

Sai resisted the urge to blurt out something offensive. He very much doubted anything she could tell him would be an equivalent exchange since he didn't care about any aspect of her life. Still he did make the commitment of trying to get along so he would have to swallow his pride.

''I do backstage make ups for the Fire Theater operas,'' Sai expected Sakura to laugh, but was surprised to find her rather intrigued.

''Are you serious!? You do those beautiful make ups I see every time I go see the opera!?'' Sakura asked surprised.

Sai was taken aback by her praise, ''most of the time yes, it's like another form of drawing and I take a lot of inspiration for my drawings because of the beautiful dresses they make. I also help draw some backgrounds in there.''

''That's amazing, you have some serious talent. I'm always amazed by the backgrounds and jealous of some of the actresses, they look beautiful most of the time,'' Sakura confessed. ''So what play did you miss because of this?''

''It's not the play I'm down about. The top scout of the Fire Nation's artistic committee was going to attend the play,'' Sai said.

Sakura could see where this was going, finally the opportunity to make the world see his worth was crushed because of this trip. He must feel like shit right now, Sakura realized now why he was being such a pain in the ass. She would be as well if something like that happened to her, then again maybe it already happened.

''Didn't you tell your family about this?''

''They don't even know I do those things. In their minds I'm earning my money by teaching self-defense classes,'' Sai explained. ''They would disown me if they ever found out about it.''

Sakura sighed, ''my father said something similar. 'You better get married or you'll live in the streets like a prostitute', he never even asked how I felt about the whole arrangement. He actually never takes into account my desires, he just expects me to be an obedient little daughter.''

Sai looked at her with a blank face, ''guess we're really not that different you and I, at least with our families anyways. So is that why you want to go to Konoha?''

''This is going to sound pretty stupid, but inside my head I always picture myself as a cowboy,'' Sakura blushed.

Sai frowned and looked at her very confused.

''You know a cowboy! The ones going on horses and get to see the entire big west. Not being chained by all those rules and expectations. I just want to feel like me and not a vision my father has of me,'' Sakura confessed.

''Wouldn't that make you a cowgirl though?'' Sai touched his chin and took out his draw book.

''Yeah right,'' Sakura scoffed. ''I doubt those even exist, all the tales I've heard are of famous male cowboys, like the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze.''

''Who's that?'' Sai asked her while still drawing.

''You haven't heard of him!? He's just like the most famous cowboy that existed in the west! They called him the Yellow Flash because he robbed banks so fast the only thing people saw was his yellow hair as he faded away. True story,'' Sakura explained somewhat enthusiastic.

''So what happened to him, is he still alive?'' Sai asked not taking away his eyes from his book.

''No, they found his body on one of the battlefields during the civil war 18 years ago. Witnesses tell he killed twenty men before being overwhelmed and going down''

Sakura could recite these facts while sleeping, she really loved all the cowboy culture that was so big in the west.

Sai was mildly interested in what she was saying for once. He finished the drawing and showed it to Sakura.

Sakura could not believe her eyes. Sai had made an extremely realistic portrait of her in a cowgirl outfit. She was wearing crème jeans and brown boots on her lower body, on her upper body she had a short sleeved white shirt, a brown poncho, and fingerless gloves. She was amazed by the level of detail for such a quick sketch, it was missing a hat and a gun but it was good enough.

''C-can I keep that?'' Sakura said blushing and not looking at Sai directly.

''Sure, I have no desire of keeping a drawing with you in it,'' Sai blurted out.

_Ok Sakura calm down, you're supposed to be friends now_ she resisted the urge to punch him and just pocketed the sketch. Just four more days of being in here and she would see Konoha in all its glory, she wondered how the people in there were and how many cool places she would get to see. Life would be heaven at least for a short month.

* * *

After the meeting Naruto held with the entire camp Sasuke and Sakon returned to the place where Ukon had been killed, much to Sasuke's distaste. He wanted to get the explanation of plan over with as fast as he could.

Sasuke saw Sakon finishing the last details on his brother's grave, much to his disgust. He didn't mean to feel that way, but having a horrible brother can make you rather uneasy to seeing those brotherly bonds manifest in front of you. The actual truth he never told anyone was that he was jealous of said bonds, Itachi was only nice to him as a kid. Then the absolute disaster happened when Itachi left the family.

''What are you thinking about pretty boy?'' a voice behind Sasuke asked.

''None of your business Kidomaru,'' Sasuke spat. ''Would you finish that already, we have plans to make.''

Sakon told a final prayer before going towards Sasuke and Kidomaru. He hated this Uchiha kid attitude, but he hated that Uzumaki kid even more so he would have to deal with it for the moment.

Sasuke had instructed him to look for another individual who hated Naruto equally as they did. It was not an easy task as he first thought it would be. The majority of the dumbasses here actually admired him and deep down desired to be like him. The only other person he could find in the camp that seemed to hate Naruto was Kidomaru. Apparently he hated the guts of the kid after the exhibition he made of Ukon which was weird considering he never knew him, but anyhow he decided to help them in their revenge. Or at least Sakon's revenge because neither of them knew what Sasuke had against the blond.

''So what's the plan,'' Sakon asked impatiently.

''Simple, remember the meeting we just had with the group?'' Sasuke began his explanation. ''During it he told us he wants us to divide into two groups, group 'A' and group 'B'. Group 'A' is the one that goes to the back of the train for the safe and group 'B' is the one that robs the passengers.''

''Yeah we already heard that long explanation, what's your point?'' Kidomaru was not impressed so far. Sakon wasn't either.

Sasuke looked at them and narrowed his eyes, ''point is Naruto is taking only five people in group 'A' out of the nineteen in here. He will be vulnerable and we can easily overpower him if he is in such a small group. We know for sure he is taking Kiba and Shino since they are the official client, which only leaves three more slots in that group. We have to make sure me and Kidomaru get a place in there.''

Sakon immediately spoke up, ''you and Kidomaru!? What about me, there's still a fucking spot left and I'm the one who wants to kill him the most!''

''You are never going to get into that group, not after what your brother did. Naruto is not going to trust his life to the brother of a man he just killed,'' Sasuke blurted out. ''Me and Kidomaru are going to overpower the group and incapacitate Naruto so we can kill him later. Does that sound good enough for you?''

Sakon spat on the floor and didn't say anything, it was clear he disagreed, but he had no other choice but to accept it.

Sasuke turned towards Kidomaru, ''do you have a good shot?'' he asked.

Kidomaru smirked, took out his gun and threw a rock to the air. He took out his pistol and took a shot, it managed to hit the rock.

''Best one in the entire damn west,'' Kidomaru said proudly.

_Far from it, but you're good enough_, Sasuke got himself up, ''Naruto is choosing who is going with him on group 'A' tomorrow, so stay sharp. It will probably be decided by who are the best shots so we should have no problems there. I'll give you two more details about the plan tomorrow.''

With that said Sasuke left them to go get some sleep.

''Do you trust that fucking guy?'' Kidomaru asked.

''Not at all,'' Sakon said.

''Maybe we should kill him as well afterwards, you know like a thank you present for saving us the trouble,'' Kidomaru smiled.

''I already have the upper hand on you with that mate,'' Sakon smirked.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake looked at his pocket watch and shook his head. It was the third day in a row that he stayed so late at work, this case was really taking a toll on him. Ever since Danzo was elected governor of Konoha his work had tripled, now he reported directly to his underlings. They had already threatened to take his Sheriff's badge if it wasn't for how loved he was around town.

The case of the Orange Flash was one of the priorities in his office now, Danzo had announced publicly that he would not let such a man to keep dodging the law again after all. Kakashi really wished Hiruzen had won those elections during these instances, Konoha seemed to be going towards a dictatorship with Danzo in control.

''Yo Kakashi! You seem crazy tired already, what happened to all that youth you had friend!? '' Gai busted into his office with a ridiculous pose.

This was not what Kakashi had signed up for, ''Gai not now please. You know I've been working my ass off with this Orange Flash case.''

''Yeah about that,'' Gai's behavior suddenly changed.

''I sense you have bad news now that you're not talking about youth,'' Kakashi said.

Gai took out a piece of paper out of a folder, ''news came from the main headquarters. Says that if you can't catch the Orange Flash in a month they will be officially taking you off the case.''

Kakashi was silent for a minute, he knew that was not it, ''and?''

Gai looked at him solemnly, ''and you will be terminated from your duties if you fail.''

''Could you give me a minute alone Gai?'' Kakashi asked.

Gai left the room without saying another word and closed the door behind him. Kakashi furiously kicked his desk sending stacks of paper work flying all over his office. He could not believe Danzo would actually kick him out of the Sheriff's office, it seems he didn't care about the backlash he would receive if he does it.

_Fucking asshole_, Kakashi sighed and poured himself a glass of whiskey. _Sasuke please don't fuck this up_.

* * *

Here again with another chapter. This was mostly just set-up, also laying some hints of future events as well as things that already took place which will be explained later in the story.

Thanks for all the reviews btw, I really appreciate them! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask them, i'll try to answer them as best i can (as long as it doesn't spoil the story lol)


	3. Chapter 3 - Evaluation

Inari took a deep breath and held his gun steady. He looked at the bottle fifty meters away from him, it was practically mocking him. He was sure he was not going to hit it from this distance, so he took a step forward to make it easier. That was until he felt a rock hit him in the back of the head.

''Hey! What the fuck you do that for!?'' Inari raged.

Naruto looked at him unapologetic, ''if you can't even hit that bottle I won't bother bringing you on my group. We've been through this six times already kid, you have to stay behind the line I drew'' he pointed at the line on Inari's feet.

''Oh come on! No one can possibly make that shot, its imposs-'' Inari threw himself to the floor when he heard a gunshot.

Naruto stood there coolly with his gun still up. When he looked up he saw the bottle still intact, he scratched his head confused and turned to see Inari on the floor. Needless to say he looked unimpressed.

''Man that was so fucking lame,'' Naruto laughed.

''Lame!? You've been making me do this for two days any you can't even do it yourself!'' Inari yelled.

''Hey kid don't yell at me! I can totally do it, a speck of dust got into my eye and made me miss it that's all,'' Naruto argued.

Inari frowned not believing a word he said. That was until he saw Naruto rise up and prepared himself to take the shot one more time. He saw as he held his gun, closed one eye, and drew a breath just as he had taught him.

Naruto looked at the bottle and took his shot. He watched the bottle burst into tiny little pieces and scattered all around the floor. He smiled and turned to Inari with an 'I told you so' written all over his face. Taking a new bottle Naruto walked and placed it right where the old one was.

''Your turn kid, take all the day if you want. But remember if by the end of today you have not mastered it you won't be joining me for the raid,'' Naruto left without saying another word.

Inari looked at him leave and gritted his teeth. It seemed the shot was possible after all, but it was still unfair. He would definitely fail in hitting the target by the end of the day. Having no other choice Inari drew a deep breath and prepared once more for another try.

xxxxxx

Naruto wondered around camp looking for anything to do, but the truth was that he didn't have anything substantial to do, at least not until they got inside that train and made their business. He kept looking around the camp to see how they were holding up.

He needed to see who would be the best option to join group 'A', and the decision had to be done today. He had already seen some potential candidates for the job, Inari was one of them. Naruto knew he had to have him in the group once he saw his determination. Even if he didn't manage to get a clear shot against the bottle by the end of the day, he was still going to take him. That would certainly make conflict with the other guys at the camp, but they don't need to know that Inari can't shoot that well. Hell they don't even need to know he is the sixth member of group 'A'.

There was also a man who was about his age that seemed like a good fit for the job. He had dark hair and equally back eyes, his skin was really pale on the other hand. The curious thing about him was how much of a loner he was, almost everyone here had made friends pretty quickly. At the very least some had made acquaintances for future jobs or references, but he was always alone, seemingly not caring about any of this.

It was a mystery to him why Kiba and Shino picked him up for the job, but they had their reasons and as long as Jiraiya trusted them then he would trust them too.

Naruto raised his head to look at the sky and the glaring sun rays washed his whole face. He absolutely loved that warm feeling, it was comforting almost like a woman. Not that he knew how a woman's warmth felt like, sadly he had never been interested in the girls Jiraiya introduced to him. Quite frankly neither the ones Tsunade showed to him, they were either too quiet or too crazy. Why was it so hard anyways, he wasn't asking for anything special either.

Brushing those thoughts away Naruto turned his head back on the camp. It was almost 5 P.M. according to the position of the sun, it was almost time for picking the men he would take for group 'A'. Naruto placed two fingers on his mouth and made a whistle as loud as he could. Everyone turned their attention towards the blond cowboy and waited for an announcement.

''Listen now everyone, we're gonna have a little contest!'' Naruto announced.

Kiba and Shino arrived shortly after to see what the fuss was all about. Kiba grinned at the obnoxiousness of what Naruto was doing.

''Yo Shino do you honestly think this is all necessary? I mean why do we need six people to get the things out of the safe?'' Kiba asked

Shino fixed his sunglasses, ''Of course it's necessary,'' he said not adding anything else.

Kiba frowned annoyed at his lack of explanation, ''yeah, but why? Isn't he like the best in the business? Why so many people.''

''You know you would be way less annoying if you asked better questions,'' Shino blurted out.

Akamaru barked in agreement not shortly after that statement.

''Yo Akamaru you should be on my side!'' Kiba yelled.

Shino looked amused at Kiba, ''Just watch what Naruto's about to test and you'll get it, or at least I hope you do. All six of us in the group have essential roles to play.''

Kiba looked at the crowd Naruto made still not getting it.

Naruto eyed the black haired guy he was thinking of earlier and smiled. He was surprised at how smug he looked, he probably thought he was about to do a shooting contest to decide who would be on group 'A', _Rookie mistake_.

Sasuke watched closely as Naruto took out a lock out of his vest. _Fuck_, he thought, this was not what he was expecting.

''Good evening everyone, I'm quite sure you already know why you've been asked to come here,'' Naruto spoke. ''I'm here to see who will be coming with us on our group, make no mistake though, the reward will be the same no matter which group you are in. As a matter of fact you can leave right now if you have no desire to be part of group 'A'.''

There was confusion between everyone at the camp after that statement.

''I just want to emphasize the importance of team work here, as well as reassure you that the best possible candidates are being chosen for the right jobs,'' Naruto added.

''Hey if it isn't really that important why make such a fuzz over it?'' a man in the crowd asked.

Naruto stood there silently while everyone was mumbling about his statement being a lie. It always amused him to no end how worried people were over such trivial matters.

''You're correct I've made a fuss these three days over who to choose for my group, but make no mistake, you're all going to be paid the same,'' Naruto assured them. ''Although there is one benefit for being chosen in my group, which is that if I see you're trustworthy enough I'll personally make sure to get you a spot for my next job.''

Sasuke's eyes widened at the statement Naruto just made. That changed absolutely everything in an instant, he was talking about the opportunity of meeting his higher ups. Kakashi would give his remaining eye for such an opportunity, hell he would probably show his face for it. _Shit now I can't afford to arrest him_, this was going to be a problem to explain both Sakon and Kidomaru.

He could think about that later though, right now getting himself in group 'A' was the priority and so far it seemed Naruto was not going to choose them based on shooting ability. Sasuke saw as Naruto placed the lock on the floor and stepped back.

The men who where uninterested in competing for a spot quickly left and only a few remained, Naruto smiled at the remaining men. There was Sakon, the brother of Ukon just as he expected, he wasn't sure why he was there it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to choose him no matter what. It would just be too risky.

There was also a dark skinned man, he was really tall and skinny, but he seemed pretty handy so he could be of some help.

The last one who stood out from the rest of the crowd was that black haired guy, he seemed pretty smug and for some reason Naruto hated that. The worst part about it was that he could probably back up that smug attitude, he seemed to be pretty good with a gun even if Naruto hadn't seen him handle one so far. Unluckily for him, Naruto had planned other tests.

''So I have more than enough gunmen to protect the group, but I'm lacking men with other set of skills,'' Naruto explained. ''Let's see who of you here can open this lock, you can use any tool you want.''

The wall dark skinned men laughed, ''are you serious? That will be child's play.''

''Ah yeah, but you have to do it in under ten seconds for me to consider you good enough,'' Naruto added. ''So think you're fast enough for the job toothpick?'' Naruto asked.

''The name's Kidomaru asshole,'' he said annoyed. ''And I'm good enough for your silly challenge.''

Naruto smirked and threw the lock at Kidomaru. He saw as Kidomaru took a small paper clip out of his pocket then looked at him.

''So are you gonna tell me when to start blondie?'' Kidomaru smiled.

Naruto held back a laugh, ''you may begin when you're ready.''

Kidomaru quickly inserted the clip inside the lock, he knew exactly how to open any kind due to his previous jobs as a burglar. He met a dead end with his paper clip pretty quick, one pin inside the lock just wouldn't budge. Having no time to waste he forced it and was quickly blown away backwards by a little explosion.

Naruto laughed out loud when he saw Kidomaru's shocked face, ''nice try there!''

Kidomaru quickly got up and grabbed Naruto from his collar, ''what the fuck was that all about you psycho!?''

Naruto pushed him away from him, ''oh don't be such a baby. It was a harmless explosion, besides you just showed me you have no talent at picking locks. Don't worry though maybe you can still get in the group on my next test.''

Kidomaru gritted his teeth and walked away, he had never felt so humiliated before. _That asshole is gonna pay when we get him_.

''Alright who's next?'' Naruto took another lock from his pocket and motioned someone to take it. No one made a move to take it as he expected.

At least not until that guy stepped forward. The black haired one, he stepped forward and took the lock Naruto was holding in his hand. There was something Naruto noticed about that man, he couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but the man was interesting to say the least.

His curiosity got the best of him, ''hey what's your name?'' Naruto asked.

Sasuke stopped and turned to see Naruto in the face. He considered for a moment telling him his real name, but he knew better than to give information that could potentially harm you to your main target.

''I'm Fugaku,'' Sasuke answered rather coldly.

For a moment the two of them stared at each other, each of them inspecting the other rather meticulously.

Finally Naruto spoke after a while, ''the test begins once you start opening the lock. I hope you're better than tooth pick over there as well.''

''Don't worry,'' Sasuke smirked, ''I am.''

_Fucking smartass, _Naruto thought.

_Damn loser_, Sasuke thought.

Sasuke took a deep breath and took out a small knife. Naruto looked at him confused, sure he had seen locks being opened with knives before, but that was not the most efficient method. Still he would give him the benefit of the doubt.

Digging through the pins inside the lock Sasuke found something unusual at end on the third one, which was probably the one Kidomaru tried to force. It seemed there was a small cable attached to it, probably connected to an explosive inside the lock. That pin had to be opened with precision, not force. The problem was the time limit, Sasuke had already lost a second thinking about how to breach it.

_He is definitely more intelligent than the last one at least_, Naruto thought.

Sasuke carefully lifted the pin and successfully breached it without touching the cable. He smiled and quickly opened the other two left only to be rewarded with another small explosion at the end. The Uchiha dropped the lock and got himself backwards before he could take any damage from it.

_That's not possible! _Sasuke thought irritated.

Naruto grabbed the lock on the floor and turned to see Sasuke. _Not bad, he managed to figure out the system I implemented in the lock in less than three seconds. _

Sasuke cursed himself internally, this was the chance he had worked so hard for over two years only to lose it to a stupid test. Kakashi was going to kill him when he found out.

''Well people, I guess we all know what this means,'' Naruto said.

Sasuke frowned waiting for the blond to make a stupid comment, even though the test was unfair to begin with.

''We have our new lock picker,'' Naruto announced and threw the lock towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha caught it with a confused look on his face. When he saw that the lock was opened all doubt was erased from his face, it seemed that explosion at the end was nothing more than a tasteless joke from Naruto. The more time he spent with him the more he seemed to hate him.

''Tch,'' Sasuke simply left shortly after that.

Naruto kept his eyes locked on Sasuke as he was leaving, it seemed like his dislike of him was growing exponentially the more time he spent with him.

''What's the other test then?'' Kidomaru asked impatiently.

Naruto turned back to see the rest of the camp. He took a look at Kidomaru before speaking.

''Have you ever killed someone?'' He asked.

Kidomaru was confused by his question, ''what kind of question is that? Of course I have, like I expect the majority here have done.''

_He's fucking disgusting_, Naruto thought. Sadly that kind of sick mentality was the one he needed.

''Is it true? Who here has killed someone before?'' Naruto asked everyone.

Only a handful of people raised their hands, most of them did so with shame in their faces. That is what Naruto considered normal, people never like to kill, but sometimes you have no other option. He turned towards Kidomaru and once again saw a face with no regrets, the guy probably enjoyed killing people.

''You passed the test, congrats,'' Naruto announced.

Everyone was confused some of them started voicing their displeasure for such a quick decision. They were expecting a different kind of test.

''Why the sudden decision of including me?'' Kidomaru asked.

''Simple, I'm going to need your sick attitude to do some dirty work should it become necessary,'' Naruto replied. ''That's it people no more tests, the groups are decided.''

''Wait!'' somebody yelled before Naruto walked away.

Naruto turned and saw Sakon standing in the middle of the crowd visibly angry.

''I already told you, tests are over. The groups are decided and I'm not changing my mind,'' Naruto told him.

Sakon frowned, ''who is the other person going in group A?''

Naruto was starting to get angry, ''why do you even care about that, I told you already groups are final and you're not going with our group.''

''Didn't you say before that we had to work as a team and shit? I also remember you stating that only the best possible men in here would get the jobs they deserve. So why hide who the last member is from the rest of the camp? That isn't teamwork as far as I'm concerned,'' Sakon said.

The rest of the men in the camp started mumbling and voicing their agreement with the words Sakon just said. It was true for most of them, why hide the identity of the last member? If he was capable most of them would find no problem at all, on the other hand hiding him would only mean he was unsuitable for the job.

Naruto clearly realized he was cornered, if he didn't reveal who he was it would most likely cause turmoil inside the camp. That would indirectly cause teamwork to be non-efficient by the lack of trust in their superior.

''Inari, he is the sixth member,'' Naruto announced with a blank face.

That announcement caused even more discussion between the men in the camp. Most of them were shocked at the decision of including such a young kid to group A.

''Where the hell did that decision come from!?'' a man yelled.

''Yeah even I can shoot better than that fucking crybaby,'' another man said angrily.

''Well what do you have to say about that orange flash,'' Sakon said mockingly.

Naruto looked at Sakon with no expression in his face, ''prove it.''

''What?'' Sakon asked.

''If you really think you're way better than him at shooting then I'm pretty sure you can back it up,'' Naruto said. ''Prove you're better than him in a shooting competition.''

_This dumbass actually fell for it! _Sakon thought. Now was his chance to be included in the group and be a step closer to his revenge.

''Alright if I win I get to be in your group,'' Sakon stated his condition.

''Deal, but if you lose Inari gets your part of the reward'' Naruto smiled.

Sakon frowned, ''Deal.''

They both shook hands and backed away from each other immediately afterwards.

Naruto placed two fingers inside his mouth and whistled. Shortly after Inari arrived to where the rest of the camp was. He looked extremely confused by the death stares everyone except Naruto was giving him.

''Um, what's up guys,'' Inari asked confused.

''Brace yourself brat, we're having a shooting competition,'' Sakon said.

Inari turned to see Naruto even more confused than before. Naruto just shrugged and walked towards a tree far away from the rest of them. He took out a long roll of paper and nailed it to the tree with a knife. The roll of paper was a shooting target with the outline of a man, it indicated what where the most lethal points to shoot.

''Alright, whomever gets a kill shot first wins, if you both get one then another round will be used for a tie breaker, the target will be placed even further each round. It will continue on until one of you misses the target,'' Naruto explained the rules.

''Wait, wait what exactly is at stake here?'' Inari asked.

Naruto sighed, ''who is going to be in group 'A'.''

Inari's eyes widened, obviously whatever Naruto said earlier regarding his training was thrown out the window. He needed to win this shootout or become another man outside of the main group. That meant he wouldn't see in person how exactly Naruto operated.

The circle of people stepped backwards to give space for the shooting.

Sakon smirked and stepped forwards, Inari just looked extremely nervous so he let him take the first shot. Naruto on the other hand looked disappointed that he didn't take the initiative to take the first shot. It would have been a big advantage, no matter whether you miss or hit your target, you put pressure either way on the other player.

Sakon took out his pistol and made his shot immediately after that. The distance to the target was around sixty feet, piece of cake for him. And the target clearly showed that by being pierced right in the head. Sakon walked away proud of his victory.

''Don't think you two are the only ones who want a spot on that group!'' a man said and stepped forwards to take a shot.

When he fired his gun he sent himself backwards with the recoil and turned to see that the target was intact. Everyone laughed and he sat down in embarrassment.

''Let's hope you didn't kill some poor soul wandering around in that direction,'' Naruto joked.

That failed attempt seemed to make the rest of the men in the camp not want to try anymore, so the only other person who stepped up was Inari.

Naruto looked at him wondering if he had improved whatsoever, _this was a stupid decision, he is never going to win this contest,_ he thought. He just had an afternoon of training with a gun after all.

Inari took the gun Naruto gave him and aimed at the target. He stood there just looking and not making any move, everyone was murmuring how he probably didn't even know how to use a gun. Ignoring them he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly just as Naruto taught him and released the trigger.

Naruto checked the target and smiled, ''seems we have a tie my friends!''

Inari ran towards the target and saw his bullet right through the hearth, he jumped from excitement and shouted super loud for everyone to listen. And everyone did listen as they looked in shock how a kid so young could make such an accurate shot.

Sakon quickly spoke against it, ''that is not possible!'' he said while running to see if it was true.

He was quickly proved wrong by the bullet hole in the target's heart.

''Tch rookie's luck, you're not going to survive next round you fucking brat,'' Sakon said.

Naruto smiled at Inari with a proud face, but he wondered just how many rounds he would be able to take Sakon head on without losing.

The contest went on for quite a while, after the sixty feet section came the 120 feet test. Sakon passed it with another shot right through the head, while Inari struggled a little more but got his shot right through the targets lung. A less precise shot, but still a killing one none the less.

It seemed the two of them were not going to give up that easily. The 240 feet test came shortly after, Sakon took his shot first again and this time his shooting was a bit messier. He managed to get the bullet to pass through the target's neck, Naruto saw that it was not the intended place he wanted to, but it seemed luck was on his side on this one.

Inari made the same routine that was working for him and took yet another shot at the target, this one managed to pass through the target's head. Naruto released the breath he was holding once he saw the shot was successful. Still it was luck for Inari as well, he knew he was aiming towards the sternum.

''Not bad for such a wimpy kid,'' Sakon told Inari. ''But you're still going to lose.''

''You're way too obsessed about me,'' Inari said. ''Maybe trannies have a natural obsession with kids after all.''

''You mother-'' Sakon was about to punch Inari when he remembered what had happened to his brother for trying the same thing.

''Alright you assholes, the target is now at 260 feet. Good luck,'' Naruto announced.

Sakon fired his gun without much of a preparation. He walked towards the target to see that the bullet had completely missed, the whole was outside the body outline.

''Ooh bad luck my friend, it seems little Inari there might embarrass you tonight,'' Naruto teased him.

Sakon gritted his teeth and walked away from the target so Inari could take his shot.

The teen took his time to assess his shot. This was even farther away from the shot Naruto had made him do all afternoon. There was no way he was going to make it, even less so with so much pressure. He again took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, he took the shot and waited for Naruto to say the shot had missed.

Instead he was greeted with cheers and congratulations from everyone at the camp, it seemed his shot got the target right in the head. Which was pretty fortunate as he was aiming towards the torso, but whatever he'll take it.

Naruto gave him a thumbs up, ''I guess my initial decision to bring him was justified after all.''

Sakon looked visibly angry, not only had he lost his place in the group he had also lost his share of the reward.

''Don't worry, maybe you'll have better luck next time,'' Naruto told Sakon.

Inari jumped from excitement and started giving high-fives to everyone at the camp, he looked so happy Naruto felt the happiness himself. He felt shame as well, showed by how quickly he hid the gun he used to deceive everyone to think Inari had actually hit the target. In reality he had missed the target by quite a good margin, but nobody needed to know that.

The problem was that someone did notice it, Sasuke looked at the orange flash and wondered why someone like that would have such a soft spot for a child. He clearly felt some sort of connection towards the kid, maybe he could use that to his advantage in the future.

Fortunately for him Sakon had lost the contest as well, having Kidomaru there was already a big problem so avoiding another one was a priority. He still couldn't figure out what to do with the situation arrest Naruto or keep going under covered to gain even more information on his organization. He had enough info already, but Kakashi would never forgive him for letting such an opportunity go to waste. Even less so with Danzo on his ass about the case.

_I'll make a decision once we're raiding the train_, he thought. Would be easier to do that, wait for Kidomaru and Sakon to sabotage themselves and see where the situation would land him. If his cover was blown by them he would arrest Naruto and if they got killed he could just go on as if nothing happened.

_Just keep your cool you've got this far on your own, you can't fuck this up now_, Sasuke thought before walking away from the celebrations.

* * *

Sakura yawned and stretched her back once she got out of the bathroom. She looked out the window to see the beautiful sky filled with bright stars. _Maybe some fresh air outside the train will help me a little bit_.

When she opened the door to the little balcony just at the rear end of the train she realized her decision was fully justified. It was a cold night, but she had always loved those nights. The sky was even better to look at from here than from the inside.

_Just two more days and I'll get the freedom I long for… at least for a month_, she thought. Sleepiness attacked her once again and she stepped inside the train once more, being inside this machine for four days had made her an expert on its insides. So she effortlessly ran through the hallway without waking anyone up and returned to her seat.

She closed her eyes once again wishing for more nice dreams of Konoha.

* * *

Sorry it took me so long to update I've been busy now that I got a new job and all, but don't worry! I'm still dedicated to finishing this story.

Some points I would like to say about this chapter:

- I'm not trying to make Naruto look like a badass that doesn't care about nothing so this chapter was necessary, shown by his new bond with Inari. He is good at his job however and the job sometimes asks you to do things you wouldn't do otherwise. That's also another reason as to why he chooses Kidomaru, you'll see it in the upcoming chapters.

- Sasuke on the other hand is a misguided character. Don't get it wrong either, he is not evil here. I'm mostly trying to portrait him just as he is throughout part 2 of the series. Not as a killer as he was during the Kage summit arc, but as a guy that is stuck between doing the right things or the thing that benefits him the most. He also uses other people to gain advantages, you'll see his colors in the upcoming chapters as well.

- Inari will also have a huge impact on the story later on so stay tuned for that, his relationship as a student to Naruto will be touched upon.

- That last bit with Sakura you could say wasn't really necessary, but I feel that I needed to state something that will be touched upon later so it doesn't seem like an asspull later.

Alright guys that's it for this chapter, if you like it favorite my story and I would really appreciate if you wrote a review and told me what you feel about it! Thanks for reading!


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